Hello All,
I have one of Uriah Daily's new, not out yet, LDR passive preamps on order. The idea was to use it between my DAC and power amp. Well I recently just got a new DAC. A Jolida FX Glass tube DAC. It has a digital volume control built in. It sounds great. The volume is dead quit. I was told by a dealer that if I turn the volume on the DAC all the way up, it is basically out of the circuit, and then I could use my passive preamp. Now here is my concern. With the volume control being in the digital domain, I would think that the DAC would sound the same with the volume at any level including turned all the way up. Being a digital volume control there is really no out of the circuit if you know what I mean. So what would be my incentive to turn it all the way up and use an external passive preamp? Wouldn't I just be adding more stuff to the circuit that's not needed? Wouldn't it just color the sound to its own, no matter how good the passive pre is. It might sound OK, but it's just more unneeded junk. I mean if the sound of the Jolida is what it is even with the volume control is turned all the way up, and I have done so, and I didn't hear any difference, as if the volume control was being omitted from the circuit. So I'm thinking of selling the LDR preamp, and just using the Digital volume on the Jolida DAC, which I am about to modify. What's all your oppinions?
I have one of Uriah Daily's new, not out yet, LDR passive preamps on order. The idea was to use it between my DAC and power amp. Well I recently just got a new DAC. A Jolida FX Glass tube DAC. It has a digital volume control built in. It sounds great. The volume is dead quit. I was told by a dealer that if I turn the volume on the DAC all the way up, it is basically out of the circuit, and then I could use my passive preamp. Now here is my concern. With the volume control being in the digital domain, I would think that the DAC would sound the same with the volume at any level including turned all the way up. Being a digital volume control there is really no out of the circuit if you know what I mean. So what would be my incentive to turn it all the way up and use an external passive preamp? Wouldn't I just be adding more stuff to the circuit that's not needed? Wouldn't it just color the sound to its own, no matter how good the passive pre is. It might sound OK, but it's just more unneeded junk. I mean if the sound of the Jolida is what it is even with the volume control is turned all the way up, and I have done so, and I didn't hear any difference, as if the volume control was being omitted from the circuit. So I'm thinking of selling the LDR preamp, and just using the Digital volume on the Jolida DAC, which I am about to modify. What's all your oppinions?
Anything you add will degrade the signal, no matter how slight. If you already have a digital volume control that you can not remove from the signal path, why not use it?
First, congratulations on choosing The Lighter Note - I've used one for nearly four years now and think it sounds superb. Second, the answer to your question is "it depends".
IF (as I suspect) the Jolida FX Glass tube DAC's volume control does not degrade the signal AND the DAC is the only source you ever plan to use AND you're happy that any accidental reversion to full power (e.g. following a software update that introduces an undocumented feature) won't damage your amp or speakers, you'll be safe sticking with the digital control on the DAC. It's a scenario that works well for many.
OTOH, if you ever want to use a different source or a digital volume control would degrade the signal, then I know from experience that Uriah's Lighter Note is first rate.
In my case, not only do I play vinyl regularly but my DAC uses the now rather elderly (OK, OK, obsolete) TDA1541A chip which, though it has merits of its own, is limited to a nominal 16 bit resolution. A digital volume control will thus inevitably degrade the signal on 16-bit - i.e. nearly all - material. So I'm perfectly happy to disable the volume control on my music player and twiddle the same knob as I do when playing LPs.
A more modern DAC with higher resolution would not degrade the signal. That said, not only is the degradation incurred by using The Lighter Note negligible but the device offers flexibility and a margin of safety.
HTH
IF (as I suspect) the Jolida FX Glass tube DAC's volume control does not degrade the signal AND the DAC is the only source you ever plan to use AND you're happy that any accidental reversion to full power (e.g. following a software update that introduces an undocumented feature) won't damage your amp or speakers, you'll be safe sticking with the digital control on the DAC. It's a scenario that works well for many.
OTOH, if you ever want to use a different source or a digital volume control would degrade the signal, then I know from experience that Uriah's Lighter Note is first rate.
In my case, not only do I play vinyl regularly but my DAC uses the now rather elderly (OK, OK, obsolete) TDA1541A chip which, though it has merits of its own, is limited to a nominal 16 bit resolution. A digital volume control will thus inevitably degrade the signal on 16-bit - i.e. nearly all - material. So I'm perfectly happy to disable the volume control on my music player and twiddle the same knob as I do when playing LPs.
A more modern DAC with higher resolution would not degrade the signal. That said, not only is the degradation incurred by using The Lighter Note negligible but the device offers flexibility and a margin of safety.
HTH
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